September Hopes
by Dancerslife
Summary: In the light of a disaster the memories you take with you can only bring you hope.
1. Colorless Memories

It wasn't the colorless walls that made the hospitals eerie and unlikeable. It was the memories that flooded the floors and embedded themselves in the walls. He didn't need to be there but he had to be there. It was his job to open this hospital and give the key to the Governor of New York. Only the Governor of New York wasn't going to be there, so he was giving it to the Dean of Medicine since it was their hospital. There was going to be a ribbon cutting ceremony, then a tour of the hospital, a interview in the Children's Wing and then a lunch in the enormous garden lobby that could be seen from every hospital room.

"Mr. Truman," A young woman, no older than twenty-five, approached him with a folder. "This is for you. Mrs. Truman wanted to let you know that Aurora will not be going on the tour of the Children's wing."

"Thank you Elizabeth." The woman nodded and turned to leave. Flipping open the manila folder, his eyes went over it quickly and he flipped it shut. "Elizabeth!"

"Yes sir?" She stopped, facing him.

"Ask Mrs. Truman if Aurora is coming at all." She nodded and began to walk away. "Oh and Elizabeth. Nice Job."

The woman smiled and disappeared around the corner. And before he knew it he watched her appear on the lower level in the courtyard where chairs had been set up and a small stage with a podium in the middle. Elizabeth approached a dark haired woman who was dressed in a navy blue suit matching the color scheme Will was wearing. As Elizabeth delivered the message, the dark haired woman looked up and locked eyes with Will as he stood at the window.

There was a small smirk playing at her lips as she answered Elizabeth's question. She turned and was met with another worker of the event. It was a man who Will had seen before and wasn't threatened by the hand he had put at the small of the dark haired woman's back. She was teasing him and she did it well. It's just too bad he wouldn't be able to say a word to her in a long time.

"Mr. Truman. Mrs. Walker… I mean Mrs. Truman said Aurora should be driving in with your mother."

"Did you call Mrs. Truman Mrs. Walker?" He asked Elizabeth, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"No. But Mr. Truman if the two of you aren't married, then why does she have your last name?"

"Elizabeth. I am married to Karen. I have been married to Karen for nearly thirty years. Actually that's how long I've known her. I've been married to her for nearly fifteen." He corrected. "You are the only one who knows that besides my parents, Grace and Jack."

"Then why?"

"My parents have enough money to own New York. Karen has enough money to own her own island. It came with her divorce from Stanley Walker."

"The business mogul, right?"

"Yes. And because of her marriage to Mr. Walker we have decided to keep our marriage under wraps you could say." Will offered. "And we wouldn't want the people of New York to think that-"

"She's married to you for your parents money." Will looked at her with surprise. "What? I live in New York and I do have parents that talk. I've heard things. And before you ask, no I don't think Karen would have married you for your parents money."

"Elizabeth you've been in my family long enough to know how right that is." Will smiled. With a quick glance at the clock he saw that it was nearing nine. Aurora and his mother should be arriving soon. Karen should be changing into a pair of navy blue pants because it suddenly was too cold. "Not to mention you're Aurora's best friend."

"And you wouldn't have it any other way." She smiled. "You have ten minutes until the thing with Karen."

"Thanks." Elizabeth nodded and smiled as she exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Going back to the window overlooking the courtyard, people starting to fill the seats. There were people with cameras and press credentials hanging around their necks. Women with purses sitting in their lap and their husbands were standing chatting with each other, their hands in their pockets. He saw the guest's heads turn and that's when his attention was brought to his mother and the brunette woman standing next to her. He hadn't seen Aurora since the night before and he mentioned that he and Karen were wearing blue. But the navy blue and white she wore would end up going well together when they had to take pictures later on.

The door behind him opened and he smiled. Not only because of his mother and Aurora arriving, but also because of the woman who was standing behind him with a smug smile. Turning around he saw Karen leaning against the doorjamb with her feet crossed at the ankles. Her dark hair was swept up with a few tendrils falling around her face. And she had indeed changed her skirt into a pair of navy blue slacks. Her feet were encased in a pair of black sling backs, which later she would complain about.

"Aurora is here with Marilyn," Karen stated. She walked into the room and stood toe to toe with Will, her fingers dancing up to the knot of his tie. "Your speech is going to be about three minutes long. Don't forget to look up every so often and don't forget to wait for applause."

"Anything else I shouldn't forget?"

"When were we married?"

"Twenty five years ago"

"What day?" She asked, undoing his tie and re-doing it to her liking.

"A Friday." Will said. He didn't miss the flicker in her eyes. "A Thursday." She shook her head. "A Saturday?"

"It was a Sunday afternoon in the backyard of your parents." She said, flipping the part of the tie over. "Grace was my maid of honor, Jack was your best man and the person who married us was one of your mother's friends."

"No flower girl or bridesmaids?"

"We didn't want a big church wedding." She said, tightening the knot. "We wanted it small."

"Sorry. I should know this. It should be engrained into my memory, but my memory-"

"Is going to make its way back to you. Don't worry." Karen patted his cheek. "Come on. We need to go listen to John Prodder make a speech about The Dash."

Will and Karen walked out of the building and into the crowd of people and immediately the flashes of cameras went off. They group of people followed them as they made their way to their seats. There were three people in front of Will who were making a speech. He had to take in what they were saying to make amendments to his own speech. As the first man got up to speak, Karen slipped her hand into his and squeezed it. It was a reassuring squeeze that made him feel comfortable.

Listening to the man explain that a person's life happened during the two years, the one which they were born in and the one in which the passed away, Will took a look around at the crowd which has gathered. He caught Aurora's eye and smiled at the curly haired brunette. She smiled in returned and mouthed 'Pay Attention.' Nodding, Will turned back around and smiled at Karen who was asking him what was he doing with that raised eyebrow. Smiling he shook his head and leaned back into his seat.

With Karen at his side, Will listened to the other two speeches. After a momentous round of applause, Will made his way up to the stage. The audience once again started to applause. As if bracing himself from the New York cold, Will took a deep breath and smiled. He opened his mouth getting ready to speak, but the crowd erupted once again. Waving his hands, getting the crowd to quiet down. He began.

"It was a summer years ago when I met the real Karen Walker….." Looking up at Will, with a smile she knew. She knew his memory was coming back.


	2. Turn Down Lunch

The phone call from Grace woke Will up out of a deep sleep. He had gotten home late from work, a case that was slowly driving him crazy. She called to inquire about the food that her parents ordered for their party. A party that Will had forgotten all about and a party that Will didn't want to attend. It was going to be full of people who would want to make small talk with him and he wanted to avoid the small talk and bury his head in the case.

But after a phone call from his mother and a run to the grocery story, Will stood on the back porch of his parent's home watching people set up the tables and chairs and other people hang lights. It was his job to answer any questions the people had and answer them to the best of his ability. His parents were gone and there was really no one else to ask questions that he himself had to have cleared up.

So he went over the list of people he knew would be there. He knew Grace was coming or else she wouldn't have called. Jack wasn't going to come because of an audition he heard about through the grapevine. And that was all he knew or cared about who was showing up. Grace mentioned her assistant Karen, who Will sort of met on more times than one, might be coming. And the one thing he knew about Karen was that she could be loud and abrasive. And with what was going on already, loud and abrasive might not be what he needed.

"You look like you're in some sort of daze," Will smiled as he turned to see Grace standing behind him. Dressed in a navy blue one-sy thing with a cut down the middle, Grace stood in the doorway. Hugging Grace, over her shoulder, he saw Karen enter in a white sundress with a large black hat, sunglasses reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy's covered her eyes as she stepped over the threshold in the front room. She smiled at the man who opened the door and took her purse, handing her a ticket for it. He would make sure everything was still in her purse when she left.

Will and Karen's eyes locked as she took off her sunglasses and folded them, keeping them in her hand. Will pulled away from Grace and smiled at her. She looked different. She was married now and living in Brooklyn was doing her some sort of good. She was happier than she had been in years it seemed. The smile that she was trying to suppress reached her eyes and brightened them. It was a nice look on Grace.

"Will, you remember Karen right?" Grace turned as if sensing the woman appeared behind her. "She's my assistant."

"Right." Will said with a smile. "How are you doing?"

"Good." She smiled. "Where are the drinks?"

"Not on ice yet," Will stated. "But if you go on the side of the house I'm sure you can find something."

"Thanks." And with that Karen turned on her heel and was out of sight. Smiling, Grace looped her arm with Wills and it was where they stayed for a while. When his parent's came home, from wherever they went to, Grace never vied far from him.

It wasn't that he needed someone to be constantly by his side in order to keep him calm, he just didn't like making small talk with people he didn't like and or enjoy. It was why he liked Grace next to him. She answered the questions for him and she just melted into the roll of being the best friend who knows all. And he liked her that way.

After being asked the same three questions, who he was dating, did he have kids, and what his job was, he was forced to answer them and make the small talk he didn't enjoy. But he did it because they were his parents friends and if he ignored them they would tell his parents and Will would never hear the end of it. Which was why he had decided to isolate himself in the library.

The library, full of novels with leather covers sat in a case at the top, only to be touched with a white glove and handled with delicacy. It was his favorite place in the world when he was a kid. He did most of his homework in that room because it was warm and because it was away from his parents and away from his brothers who did nothing but make fun of him. He liked school; genuinely liked it, and he did well all throughout high school and college. And he liked to think it was because of the library.

Tracing the mantel of the fireplace that his parents had built for the winters, he caught the image of someone standing behind him in a gold candle holder that was a present to his parents. Turning his head, he saw the image of a woman in white, short dark cropped hair, and heels that made her legs go on for miles. It was Karen standing there with a smug smile on her face and a glass in her hand.

"Are you following me?" Will asked.

"Your mother said you had a library. I thought I'd check it out." Karen said, stepping into the room, leaving her drink on the side table just inside the door.

"And you didn't know I was here?"

"No." Karen said standing up next to him. "I didn't. It doesn't bother you that I'm here does it?"

"No." Will said carefully. "But it does bother me that you turned down my offer for dinner. Twice."

"You're gay."

"Bi-sexual." He corrected. "And you turned down my offer because I'm gay? And how does that even sound fair?"

"I turned down your invitation for dinner not because you were gay but because it was going to be awkward to explain to my boss why I was going out with her best friend." She informed him. "And not wanting to overstep the boundaries of friendship is completely fair."

Will heard faint noise of laughter growing louder from what sounded like children. It had to be Sam's kids since they were the only children allowed to be here. Given that they had their own bedroom to stay in and Sam and Marilyn had informed them that they were to stay there, they were kids and they didn't listen. Example; them running down the hallway screaming and laughing. Karen smiled as she watched the kids run down the hallway and turned back to Will who was shaking his head at their antics.

"My brother's kids," Will stated. "You want to go back outside?"

"Sure." Karen said. As Will escorted Karen out to the back yard, he placed his hand at the small of her back. Although his hand was warm, she felt the chill that overtook her body. She smiled when she stepped outside, taking a step away from him and the warmth and slipped on her sunglasses.

She had left her hat somewhere and to be honest she didn't care if someone picked it up and declared it their own. It was a gift from one of her ex-husbands therefore she didn't care about it as much as she would have liked to. And speaking of not caring, she watched as Will's niece plucked the hat off of a table and putting it on her head. She looked cute even though it was way too big. Some one presented her a drink. It was Will.

"Do you want me to get your hat for you?" Will asked, gesturing over to the little girl. Karen shook her head. "Are you sure?"

"I have a feeling she'll leave it somewhere and I can just pick it up then." Karen smiled. "Thanks for the drink."

"No problem. And there's a lot of ice where that came from." He smiled. She laughed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Grace walking towards them. She looked too happy. Way too happy. Too much alcohol happy.

"Will, your mom wants you to know that she and your dad are leaving. They have to go find a hotel or something. Which is ridiculous I mean they live here." Grace smiled, turning around. "I'm going to have another drink, I think. Hey that rhymed." She laughed. "That rhymed."

Will took a hold of Grace's arm and motioned for Karen to follow. Really it was in the case that Grace collapsed and fell backwards or forward and Will wasn't able to grab a hold of her. But thankfully that wasn't necessary and Karen's job was to just follow them into a small room with a couch, where Grace collapsed in a giggle fit.

Gesturing to a small seat, Will sat down and listened to Grace giggle until she fell asleep. Karen, in between Grace's laughter about how blue the ceiling was and how great the chicken was, took a seat next to Will. They just watched until the red head drifted off into a sleep, the laughter finally subsiding. There wasn't anything to be said between Will and Karen, but when he stood up, he offered a hand to help Karen up.

She shook her head and stood up on her own. "Do you mind if she stays here for the night? I can pick her up tomorrow."

"No she can stay here and the kids will wake her up in the morning." She smiled. "She's like family anyway."

"Alright." She picked her purse off the couch and made her way towards the front door. Seeing her hat near what she only could imagine was the children's toy chest, Karen picked it up and settled it on her head. She flipped open her sunglasses and had them cover her eyes.

Will was smirking as she got herself ready. "Let me walk you to your car."

"It's not that far away. I can manage." She smiled. "Thank you though."

She stepped out into the early morning sun, the temperature still warm. The sky was turning a mixture of light purple and a dark blue that made the sky look like it belonged in a fantasy world. It was pretty and unusual for Connecticut or even New York. There was so much smog everywhere you turned, seeing a double colored sky was unheard of.

Karen smiled as she heard the door behind her close. She didn't need to turn around to know that Will was behind her, getting ready to offer her company on the way to her car. But she made a show of turning around and being a bit shocked that he was there, putting his hand on her lower back, guiding her down the six steps that led to the walkway.

"It's the least I can do." Karen nodded and let him guide her.

It wasn't a surprise when two weeks later Karen found a note on the front door of her studio apartment asking her to dinner. From Will.


	3. Didn't Do Giddy

Throwing out half of her closet and laying it down on her bed unpleased with anything wasn't like her. This was their second attempt at dinner, the first he had to cancel because of work. The second time he invited her to a 'thing' for work and she couldn't figure out what to wear. Will had called to tell her that she should dress warm and comfortable. So the grey sweater and the jeans with a pair of heeled boots would have been nice. But it was too comfortable for a Town Hall speech that she was going to sit through. She could wear a pair of suit pants, but she wanted to look like an everyday person. Not someone with money.

Her phone rang and she was convinced it was Will canceling so she left it. As she continued to look through her pile of clothes the phone continued to ring. It was starting to get one her nerves. She picked up a black sweater, a black pair of pants that were a cross between jeans and something fancier. She'd wear heels to go with it and a coat for the drop in temperature that she knew was coming. The phone rang a few more times before she leapt over to the side of her bed and picked it up.

"Hello?" She asked, out of breathe. She had to shower and got change.

"Karen?" Grace. "Karen can you hear me?"

"Yes Gracie." She sighed. Karen took the phone with her as she pulled the cord over the pile of clothes and into the bathroom. She slid open her shower door, turned it on, and walked out of the room. The room was going to fill with steam in a few seconds.

"Where did you put the sketches of the bar room from the other day?" She was yelling. No doubt somewhere with really bad reception.

"They're in the top tray on your desk." Karen said. "Grace listen I need to go and get ready for something tonight. Can I call you back later?"

"Yeah yeah."Grace said, yelling loud enough for Karen to pull the phone away from her ear and still capable of hearing her clearly. Karen hung up the phone, shed her clothes, and jumped into the hot shower.

Her hair was curled and being unruly. She didn't like not having some sort of control over it. But when she got out of the shower and saw she had nearly twenty minutes to get to the building and to get dressed she let her hair go, knowing it was going to take that much time if not more to have it dried and straightened. And she picked the grey sweater and dark jeans with heeled boots. She was on time. And it was because there was a car waiting for her .

She was hustled into the speech through the back door and was sat in the front row. Like a celebrity. She hadn't seen Will yet and she doubt she would until he walked out. On her way in she was handed a program that was detailed in what was supposed to happen that night. Dinner didn't seem like it could be involved, but with what she heard from Grace, Will liked to surprise people.

Karen stood outside the same door in which she came in and waited for Will. It was where she was instructed to wait when Will was finished.

"Ma'am do you want your coat from your car?" Karen looked up and nodded. In the time she had from when they stopped to get into the school, she didn't even think about her coat. Being in a room full of warm bodies she never got cold, in fact she had to pull up her sleeves to get cooler. "He should be coming out any second now."

"Thank you," She said taking the coat from the man and slipping into it. "Does he do this often?"

"Making speeches?" Karen nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"You know you don't have to keep calling me ma'am." She informed him, finishing up the buttons.

"It's apart of the job ma'am." He informed her, pressing at his ear. He leaned back and swung open the door where Will appeared at the end of the hallway walking towards her. He looked up and saw Karen standing there looking over her shoulder. She turned towards him with a smile.

Will stepped out into the cold and smiled at Karen, putting a hand on Karen's arm. "You all ready?" Karen nodded. "Hey Rory,"

"Good Evening Sir," The man said. "You're car should be here any minute."

"Thanks Rory," He turned to Karen and smiled. "Did you find everything okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "Who is Rory?"

"Security." Will said. "He follows me everywhere I go. Kind of like Secret Service, but he's more of my bodyguard."

"He wasn't at your parent's party."

"He was. He looked like everyone else there." Will pointed out. "He's supposed to melt in with everyone else."

"Yet he's in a suit and tie now."

"To look professional." Karen nodded. The car pulled up and the tired screeched to a halt. "You ready to go?"

The restaurant was some hole in the wall place a little out of the way from Manhattan. She hadn't been there before and from the looks of it she didn't think she would ever eat there. At least from what it looked like outside. But the inside was very cozy and very pretty. Italian red and green. She walked in and was attacked with the smell of garlic. It wasn't too much to make her nauseous just enough to make her want something with garlic.

They were ushered to the back where they were sat in a booth. The lady handed them menus and walked away leaving the two of them to it. Karen flipped open the menu and hid her face behind it. This was why she didn't want to go out on any sort of date with him. She didn't have anything to say to him. The speech he made was boring and she didn't think it flattered him at all. But who was she to say.

"What did you think of the speech?" Will asked, as if reading her mind. She put the menu down, closed it, and thought about it for a second.

"I thought it was good. The language was good." Karen said. She looked at Will through her eyelashes to gauge whether or not he believed her. And from the look he was giving her, he didn't. "It wasn't written by you and I don't know your stand on education, but kids need teachers who teach not teachers who come in and babysit kids. They need someone to actually tell them the reason why two plus two is four and not three or five. And they need someone to tell them that the reason why the sky is blue is because seventy five percent of the world is water and the sun's rays bouncing off the ocean makes the sky blue." She sighed. "What?"

"You're good."

"Good at what?"

"Speaking." Will pointed out. "What did you go to school for?"

"Art History." She said.

"Kids don't like going to school anymore. They go because they have to." Will said. "The teachers are tired of going to work and teaching kids who don't want to learn."

"Its because the teachers that they've come in contact with seem like they don't care. So why should they?" Karen told him. "I liked school. I liked my teachers because they cared. So why not have teachers who really want to teach in schools."

"They don't make nearly enough money for them to care about these kids."

"There are people who spend the time to go to school to become a teacher for nearly nothing. They do it because they want to. They go to schools and teach other kids because they want them to like school as much as they did. They are the ones who should be recognized. Not the opinionated people who have become bored and make barely forty thousand dollars a year for babysitting."

They had argued about education all through dinner, barely having enough time to order their food. Will helped Karen into her coat and guided her outside. The car still hadn't come up to the front yet. Will had seen Rory leave when Will asked for the bill and handed it back to the waiter. This was the longest time they had gone without saying a word to each other. Karen was done arguing. She wanted to go home and she wanted a really hot bath with a lot of bubbles. Frilly and frissy was what she needed.

"Karen look – "Will said placing a hand on her lower back. She turned to him. "It was someone elses's speech and I was just there to recite it. Kids need someone to look up to, to change their life and be proud of what they learn. And they need a reason to go on with their education rather than stopping it completely because they had a baby the second they stepped out of high school."

"Why did you let me go on like that?"

"You're good." He said. "And-" The car pulled up to a stop and Will opened the door allowing Karen in before him again. He was grateful that the car came when it did. He was about to do something he was going to regret and it was too early to regret anything he did. He wanted to spend more time with her. He made a mental note to ask Grace more about her.

They parked in front of a large apartment building. The car door flew open and Will got out and offered his hand. She took it and let it go when she finally had herself together enough to walk up to the front door of the building. She turned and smiled at him. She hadn't noticed how hazel his eyes were. At least under the lights of her apartment.

"Do you want to come in?" Will nodded and Karen opened the door, walking in before her.

Karen guided him to the top level, unlocked her door and slid it open, revealing a wide-open space that was her home. He stepped in to it behind her and closed the door. Everything was spread out but it seemed to work for her. The couch and the living room area was on the other side from the kitchen. It was nice.

"I'm not going to stay but I wanted to do something." Karen tossed her coat down on the couch as she listened to Will. He approached her calmly and reached for her face.

She didn't have enough time to put her hands up to push him away, but the contact with his lips and hers, she wrapped her hands in his coat pulling him close. This was not how she thought the night would end. Not with his hands buried in her hair and she'd like there to be more, but – no. Karen pushed Will away and placed a hand to her mouth. She shook her head and turned Will sighed and backed away towards the door. As she heard the door open and close, Karen couldn't help but smile. She was giddy. And she didn't do giddy.


	4. Overpowering Necessities

"You did what?" Will found himself at home for lunch from much insistence from Grace. She called him and pulled him out of an incredibly inane and tedious meeting. It was the least he could do.

"I took your assistant out to dinner." Will said again, slower and more carefully. "And I'm going to take her out to dinner again tonight. And might kiss her again."

"That!" She said pointing a finger at him. "You said again. You kissed her before, barely two weeks after you met her. You knew of her and you didn't show anything to get to know her more. And now that she's my assistant you want to take her out to dinner and kiss her?"

"Why are you so upset about this?" Will asked. "I didn't know I had to ask your permission to ask a woman I find fascinating out to dinner."

"She's my assistant! If you sleep with her do you know how _awkward_ that's going to be?" Grace said, shoving a fork into her food. "Not that you will sleep with her because you're gay, but still."

"I have thought about it." Will said, slowly, risking a glance up at Grace who was doing a superb reenactment of a fish. He knew it was going to be a risk telling her that, because for the past two days that's all he had been thinking about.

He didn't expect to kiss her when he did. He was going to wait and wait until he felt like the time was right. But when she stood there in the dim light of her apartment, still dressed in her coat and pants, her hair slightly undone, she looked gorgeous and he took the chance. And when she pushed him away, he could have sworn he saw a small smile when he walked out the door. It was that small small that drove him to ask her for another date.

It might have been why he ordered three glasses of water before she showed up in an outfit that was tighter from the other night. She looked good even though she seemed like she was in a rush. Her cheeks were a bright red and her eyes were a bit red, like she had been crying yet had stopped a while before. She wiped at her eyes quickly before she sat down. And when she did she looked up at him with a wide smile as if nothing was bothering her.

"Sorry I'm late," She apologized. "Traffic was hell." Will glanced over Karen's shoulder and didn't see a single stopped car. He just shrugged and took a drink of his water.

"How was your day?" He probed. She took a second, looked at him with a quick flash of something in her eyes, before reaching for her napkin and shaking it out.

"It was interesting. Grace landed a new client and we started working on the plans for the room." She smiled. "The people bought a new house and asked Grace to decorate the entire thing. It's a woodsy type of place on the Cape or someplace."

Will listened to Karen with half an ear. Grace had already called him and asked him if it would be all right for her to work on the project. She didn't need his permission, but it was nice to be asked. It was her business, her clients, and all he did was hear about it. Karen continued to talk about the people who Grace described as incredibly familial and yet incredibly crazy. Will couldn't help laugh and nod his head.

At the mention of a father, her excitement levels seemed to have lowered. It was obviously something she didn't want to talk about. It was just another thing to add to the never-ending list of things about her that he wanted to know. "Do you want to go for a walk?" Will asked once they were done and heading to the door. Karen nodded and looked at his hand when he slipped it into hers.

Her hand intertwined with his felt right. He was warm and strong; something she needed long time ago and still needs now but hasn't gotten it. Yet. Taking it one step closer, Karen buried herself into Will's side, still holding onto his hand, and leaned her head on his shoulder. The New York chill was creeping up on them and didn't hit them in its entirety until they hit close to Broadway. The walk wasn't too bad and if they needed to stop and jump in a car there was always one behind them. She was wondering who and what type of person he was to need a car or to have one constantly following him around. His parents had money; the parent's house was incredibly 'rich.'

If he grew up rolling in wealth Will didn't flaunt it. He was making his own money and didn't need to have anything from his parents. They didn't need to support him in anyway anymore and that freedom must have been nice. It seemed to Karen that she always had some sort of ties to her parents whether she liked it or not and at times it became suffocating. But there was nothing more suffocating that popped airbags at the age of sixteen and the news of a death. Nothing could compare.

Will stopped and pulled Karen into a small alcove and pushed her up against the wall, dropping his lips to hers. She gasped at the sudden coldness of his hands at her sides, but the contrast made it better. Her hands wove them into his hair and she grasped at the edges of his hair, pulling on it. She felt the urge to have him right then and there, and the way he was pushing her against the wall made her think that he wanted her too. But the honk of a car, the lights blinding them, as they broke apart, forced the moment to die.

He could have ran. He had every right to do so, but he just laced her fingers with his and pulled her into his side, draping an arm around her. There was a sudden need to be close to her. It was a need that almost had to be filled. It was a necessity. No words had been spoken about it the entire way back to her apartment and yet it didn't seem to matter.

They kissed at the door. The end of the date was slowly coming to an end whether she wanted it to or not. Standing there, with her back pressed against her door, his fingers in her hair, she had an idea that sounded completely brilliant. She was inviting him in and she did. And he accepted.

"Do you want some wine?" She offered, stripping of her coat and hanging it up by the door. "I have both red and white."

"Red is fine." He said. The atmosphere had turned a bit awkward in the next few minutes. They were trying to find something to converse about and the need to jump into bed together was so thick, no knife would be able to cut it, unless it was a saw.

He hadn't realized she had slipped off her shoes until she came padding over to him with a glass of red wine in her hand. She wasn't short but she wasn't as tall as she used to be with heels on. It was then that he realized he preferred her much more barefoot or clad in socks than in heels. It made it seem more natural and less forced to be someone else.

"What were you crying about when you walked into the restaurant." He hadn't intended the question to sound mean or accusing in anyway and it made him cringe after he said it. "I mean-"

"My dad died today," She said quickly. "It was a long time ago and I'm reminded of it every year and I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"Okay." He said dropping down into her couch that she had dropped herself into moment earlier. He draped an arm on the back of the couch, his fingers itching to have them buried in that hair.

She had her head on his chest when there was a knock on the door. Glancing at the clock, she cursed herself under her breathe. They had fallen asleep and she forgot she was supposed to be meeting with someone. And that person was most likely at the door. Will was still asleep with his arm draped around her shoulders, not too tight and not loose either. Luckily she was able to get out of his grip and to the door.

Will felt her shift and heard the door open and close. Stretching out on the couch, he caught the time and realized Grace would be home any minute to talk about her date that went well or not. If it was a bad date she'd say "He talked about…' or 'He smells like..' If it was a bad date she had to entertain herself and that was one of the things she did. And if it were a good date she would say it was good right away.

He was lying back with his eyes covered by his arm when she came tip toeing back in. And tiptoeing was putting it lightly. She hit herself on the edge of the table that was by the door and a light curse escaped her lips. The smile and laugh that he tried to suppress escaped and it no doubt stopped her. He peaked open an eye and looked in the general direction of where she should be and watched her as she struggled to regain her composure. To play it off she sauntered toward him and leaned over and kissed him. And when she was put on her back all else went away. She had to feel overpowered. It was a necessity.


	5. Thinking Too Much

It must have been the snow in her hair that drove him to push her against the front door of her Manhattan Apartment. It must have been the chocolate brown coat that she wore with her black slacks and flat-soled boots that had her pinned against her kitchen counter. It must have been her perfume, the type that would make her seem rich when she walked by, that had him in between her legs while she sat on her counter kissing him mercilessly.

The quiet of her apartment that was interrupted every so often by the sounds of the traffic below them and their own gasps and moans that mixed together relaxed them and made the act of sex seem like a game. The sounds of the various pieces of clothing that followed them as Karen backed them and ushered them into her bedroom made the clatter of the lamp beside her bed worth it. The warmth of skin to skin that was felt with a single swipe of the clasp to her bra made everything worth it.

Grace had drug Karen to a meeting, one of the important ones with a room full of potential clients, and Karen could not focus. Her mind was in the clouds, and her body was re-living the night before, when he touched her. It was his hands in hers, his thumb stroking hers before his fingers buried themselves in her hair, tugging slightly when he kissed her. She couldn't forget the way he drug his finger up and down the arch of her foot when she told him she used to be a dancer. It was a sentimental moment that she would have elaborated on if he hadn't kissed her. But she was glad he did because she didn't want to explain why she had stopped.

The sounds of the cars screeching to a halt in the middle of the street reminded her of the way he made her scream. Him slipping into her, the fast and hot way that he did it shocked her. People usually took their time, making sure everything was all right with her, and though at times it annoyed her that they asked, it was still nice to be asked. But Will, Will took that politeness and threw it out the metaphoric window and watched it get run over by the cars below. But the way he was after it was sweet and delicate and worth it all.

Karen dumped her keys on the side table by the front door, hung up her coat like she had millions of times before. She slipped off her shoes by her kitchen counter and watched the snowfall outside. She was anticipating watching the snow fall with a nice glass of red wine and listening to some classical music. It was a way she relaxed, a way she found soothed her long time ago. As she was pouring her wine, she heard someone knocking at the door. Actually it was more like someone was kicking her door.

Opening it she came face to face with Will who had a bag of takeout in one hand and a movie in the other. Karen smiled at the movie and she knew full well that they weren't going to get anywhere close to the movie. Maybe halfway through dinner before they had decided they were apart from each other for too long. And seeing as they had seen each other at lunch with Grace and kissed each other in a supply closet of the restaurant, they needed to feel each other again.

"Let go of what you're thinking," Karen heard Will say sleepily in her ear. She felt him roll over and wrap his arm around her stomach.

This was one of the few times he actually stayed over. More often than not she had to come up with a reason for him to leave or it was him who had said that he had to leave. It usually revolved around Grace. There was a breakfast date with Grace. Or an early call with Grace's client. Or Grace would be up early in the morning and waiting for coffee. It never went in their favor. But Grace had a date of her own and Will seriously doubted that Grace would go home afterwards.

"How do you know I'm not sleeping?" Karen asked trying to match the sleepy voice. She hadn't fallen asleep right after. She never did. She always stayed awake and over analyzed everything.

"You're tense." He said kissing the space between her neck and shoulders. "You think too much."

Karen rolled over and looked at Will who was blinking his eyes awake. He looked different half awake. More vulnerable to the world and what it could attack him with. He wasn't thinking about anything just searching for something in her. Whether it is an ounce of truth about her past, which she refused to talk about. Or whether it is the truth about who she really was, he was searching for it behind the hazel eyes of hers. It worried her at times, but with the right question at the right time, she would spill everything.

It surprised her when she woke up alone. She had gotten into the habit of waking up with someone next to her. Even though it was once or twice a week. But slipping into a robe and slipping her feet into slippers she left her bedroom and was assaulted with the aroma of pancakes and coffee. Will was shirtless with a pair of shorts messing around in her kitchen. In the kitchen where she did nothing in and now it looked like someone had been using it for years. As she sat herself on one of the barstools she realized she liked it.

He had put a strawberry in her mouth before kissing the edge of her mouth, earning a moan from her and a smile from him. He liked her place. It was big enough to seem expensive, but small enough for one person to live there. It looked like a dance studio at one time or another, the wall-to-wall mirrors and the bar that lined the kitchen. From the little information about her that he did know and from just watching her, he knew she was a dance and this place was home for her.

It was a mistake to turn his phone on. Grace had left more messages than she had the entire time he had known her and she was frantic about why he wasn't home. She rattled on about how the guy she went out with turned out to be a freak and how nothing he did made her like him. It was just a mess. And she mentioned trying to call Karen who had her phone off as well. And it made sense for Karen since she was so self absorbed but not Will because Will never turned off his phone unless he was with someone. And the pause on the other line in the message was Grace's light bulb. With a nervous chuckle she hung up.

"You're thinking too much," He heard Karen say slipping her arms around his waist, repeating his words to him. They had showered together and went separate ways to dress, Karen claiming they weren't going to get out on time if they dressed together. And she was right.

Will was standing at the window that overlooked part of Central Park lost in the thought of his parents meeting Karen. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Whether Grace invited them over for dinner or they ran into them on the street. But knowing Marilyn as well as Will did, she would never come to Manhattan unannounced. Or moments before knocking on his door she would announce her presence giving him no time to do anything.

They would meet Karen and they wouldn't take too kindly to her. She was mysterious and she was almost too good to be true. She was funny, sarcastic, witty, yet all around fun. And Marilyn was used to the sarcastic and witty people who had an intention on making fun of a person. And though Karen could do that quite well she went home and felt bad about it, thinking of a way to apologize. It was who she was and it made Will worry about her when she finally did meet the Truman clan.

It was why when he got an invitation to his parent's home for the holiday's he was going to make it a rather memorable Christmas. And there wasn't really anything or anyone could do about. Because the truth of the matter was, was he was falling in love with Karen Walker.


	6. Day we met, Talk to you now

Will could smell the trouble long before he even picked up the phone a week and a half ago when his mother invited him and his friends over for Christmas dinner. Marilyn Truman had a habit of making Christmas dinner two days before the actual holiday. It was so she could have her family for the holidays without really having to deal with them on the actual holiday. It made planning Christmas with Grace and Jack and now Karen a lot easier.

Well this year he figured it would just be the two of them for Christmas. He knew it was just going to be him and Karen this year, especially with the announcement he was going to make in a few hours. Grace wasn't going to be happy. She was going to blow a gasket and Jack, Jack would probably leave or go into hiding. They would probably go home together, leaving Karen and Will to deal with the parents.

From the moment he walked into the house his fingers itched for Karen's. Or her skin. Or even her lips on any part of his body. But Jack was doing a mighty fine job at keeping her away from him. Even when she tried to escape, desperation in her own eyes, someone would intervene and prevent her from seeing him. It took all he had to sit next to her. It was then that his fingers found her skirt and found some skin, minimal, but enough to make him calm down.

"So Will what are your plans for the New Year?" It was George who had asked the question. Will looked around the table at his brothers and his sister in laws who were looking at him like a dog waiting for a bone. He looked at Grace and at Jack and knew that the moment was now or never.

Karen's hand intertwined with his under the table. "I'm getting married in a month and a half."

Grace looked like was a fish. Marilyn slowly put down her fork. And the rest of the people just pushed away their food. "You're getting married?" Marilyn asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes." Grace began to shake her head. She knew what was happening. She knew who it was. She had to have known.

" To who?"

"Karen." Grace said as she got to her feet. "Excuse me."

"Gracie," Will said, his hands still in Karen's. "Grace, come on."

Marilyn simply smiled at Karen and put a forkful of salad into her mouth. For now someone was trying to be civil and not make it a huge train wreck. That was Grace's job. Grace was running through the house throwing open her bedroom door and slamming it as hard as she could. Hoping that it would break of the hinges.

Grace paced back and forth in her bedroom. Karen. Will was marrying Karen? When did they even have time to sleep together? Did they sleep together? They had to have slept together. Karen wasn't the type of person to just jump into a relationship and get married. That wasn't her. She was too busy making fun of people and making alibis for her driver who ran people over.

And Will! Will was gay. Will had been gay from the day she met him. And even when they got engaged for the two minutes that they were engaged he wasn't gay. Did Karen know that the man she supposedly knew everything about was gay? Was she using him? Was he using her? Everything suddenly seemed to jumbled in her mind when she saw Will enter her bedroom quietly and slowly. He didn't know what to expect. A vase could be flying in his general direction and he wouldn't be surprised.

" I am moving out of the apartment tomorrow," Grace said, her back to him, her gaze locked on a small blue jay outside her window. "I am moving out of the apartment and moving into one in Brooklyn. There are places open. I will go downstairs; pretend I'm more than happy for you. But I don't want an invitation and I don't want anything to do with your wedding to _her._"

"She's your best friend Grace. She'd want you to be there."

"You're my best friend and she's taking you away from me. She devised a plan and made her way into your life and won you over." It sounded childish and confusing. But confused was how Grace felt. "Anyway. When did you propose to her?"

"This morning. I wanted to give her a one up before meeting my mom." Will laughed. He had proposed to her in bed. "I threw the box at her and told her to open it. She never really told me yes or no. It wasn't until my mom asked me what I was doing next year that I knew she had accepted."

Grace smiled and started to throw things in her black bag, the same one she had brought to stay over. She couldn't be mad at him for being happy. She couldn't be mad at him for finding someone he could actually stand and someone who could stand him. It was nice to see. But she could be mad at him for not choosing her to marry, even though he had explained it to her years ago that he would have driven her insane and he didn't want to lose her.

Will left her to pack and he watched as she snuck out of the house with two bags, one must have been Jack's. He wasn't to be seen after desert. Karen was being pulled into the group that was dubbed as the Truman women and was being showed around the house. Will was forced outside onto the patio and stayed there after his dad and brother's left. It was where Karen had found him a few hours later after her soon to be brother and sister in law's were gone.

She placed a hand to his neck and her thumb traced the line of his jaw, making him moan. Her hands must have been cold, he only moaned when they were cold. He reclined his head back and looked at her upside down, a small smile playing at his lips. She leant down and kissed his forehead before moving around his chair and taking a seat on his lap. His arms instinctively wrapped around her middle and he couldn't help but laugh as buried herself further into him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Grace isn't going to come to the wedding." Will announced. She knew that already. But it was for him to hear it for himself as if he didn't believe it.

"Neither is Jack." Karen said almost sadly and regretful. "I didn't expect them to be happy."

"Neither did I. But I didn't know myself until I told them we were getting married."

"I've had the ring on all day long." She said with a smile. She moved her head off his shoulder and looked at him, brushing hairs out of his face. "You could have asked me the day we met to marry you and I would have said yes."

"Really?"

"Really." She nodded. She kissed him, her hands framing his face. She realized there, with the weight of her ring, the softness of his lips, and the heat of his hands, she wasn't going to give this up. Not for a long shot.

Across state lines, in the small apartment in New York City a phone rang. No one was there to pick it up. It rang and rang until a voice filled the void.

"Hi this is Karen Walker. I'm currently unavailable but if you'd leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as I can," She said a little laughter at the end of the sentence.

"Karen this is Stan. I need to talk to you. I need to talk to you now."


	7. Sleepy State

Karen stared at the pile of paper that was on her desk. Where was the assistant she acquired nearly four years ago when she married Willl? She was supposed to be doing something about that. Oh, right, she was on vacation with her family in Maui or Malawi; some place with an M. It didn't matter. What mattered was Karen was stuck with a paper filled desk and a three year old who was going to walk through the doors in a matter of minutes and nothing had gotten done.

She tapped her nails against the grey keyboard sitting in front of her. The cursor was blinking, taunting her to write something. It was a letter to her lawyer, not her husband, but the lawyer her in-laws decided to pair her up with. It was a letter deciding to completely severe her relations to anything Stanley Walker had to offer. Every month she would get a check in her name from him, with his perfect signature she herself had come to forge. But this was from a different country every month.

She had to severe the phone calls that kept coming and the random packages left on her doorstep at odd hours of the night. They all had been time stamped. Some were while her and her daughter was out. Some were in the middle of the night when everyone should have been asleep. It was scary sometimes. She hadn't told Will, never did when Stan called. And when he didn't leave a message she could hear the heavy breathing on the other line.

There was no easy way to tell Will that her ex-husband, a man he didn't know about, was calling her and had been for the entirety of their marriage. He called the day Aurora had been born, the day Karen got married, the day she and Will moved into the home the Truman's bought them; all the important days he called. It didn't bother her at the beginning, but when he started to incorporate the things she did with Aurora or Will or even her in-laws; she had to put a stop to it. She prevented Stanley Walker from having a baby, she couldn't have one, she didn't think it was possible and the situation was dropped.

The phone rang. She stared at the grey box at the top waiting for the familiar phone number, the out of the country phone number to illuminate the screen. But the name Marilyn flashed. Sighing she picked up the phone, held it to her ear and continued to tap against the keyboard.

"Afternoon, Marilyn." Karen said calmly, wanting to please the woman who was becoming rather annoying lately. She had decided Aurora wanted a Cowgirl themed birthday party, when actually Aurora wanted nothing of the sort.

"Karen, have you heard from Will?" She asked. Karen stopped moving. Had she heard from Will? She did… No. She didn't.

"I can't remember the last time I did. I'm sure I have recently though. I have a lot on my mind at the moment." Karen said, reaching for her cellular device and getting it to come alive. No messages.

"Strange." Marilyn said. "Sam just called me and said that Will was out in the city."

"It's where he works Marilyn."

"I know that, dear. But Sam said that he saw him in a café with a man, looking rather cozy."

Man. Rather cozy. Karen shook her head. They had gotten past that. She made sure of it. "I'm sure it was just a client, Marilyn." Karen heard the front door swing open and rattle against the entryway table, and the sound of little feet scurrying through the house in the direction of her office. "Marilyn, Aurora just got home. I'll talk to Will and let you know."

In a matter of seconds Karen had the phone back in its cradle and her daughter in her arms. Aurora rambled on about her day with Sabrina, the nanny, and how they went to the zoo, the park, and to the fountain in Central Park. Karen listened, and thought about what her husband was doing out in the city, in a café, with a man, being cozy. Shaking her head, she kissing Aurora's head, and focused back on the child. The girl was only going to be three once.

Karen disappeared again, into her office, when Will got home and Aurora filled him in on her day and her afternoon with Karen. Making cookies and making lemonade was the activity of the day. She sat down in her enormous black chair, stared at her computer and began to write.

"Hey, you alright?" She snapped the lid to her computer shut and locked eyes with Will who was leaning against the doorway in a pair of jeans and a tight fitting t—shirt. She smiled and nodded, getting up slowly, walking over to him seductively. If he was with a man, she was going to find out and get to the bottom of it.

She wrapped her arms around his middle, burying her face in his chest and inhaled. He smelled spicy, he always smelled spicy and tonight he smelled spicy and sweet. Sweet like…_no. _She kissed the spot she was smelling and couldn't help but smile when she felt Will's hands trail up her neck and frame her face, pulling her to him.

The way he kissed her was slow and every so often a bit hard, demanding and wanting more from her. Which she was willing to give. His teeth would graze her bottom lip, getting her to open her mouth, allowing him to enter, and tease her. Where his teeth would graze, his lips would follow, causing her to moan. As he pinned her against the edge of her desk, an act that had happened on more than one account, her mind raced to the letter she had just printed and set on the top of her desk. What hand should she move to flip the damn piece of paper over and hide it from her husband?

It didn't matter. Will had Karen by the hand leading her up the stairs and down the hallway, fumbling with each other's clothing as they made it to their bedroom. Her eyes snuck a glance at the clock in the hallway; it was past Aurora's bedtime. Will must have put her to bed. She had already eaten dinner by the time Will had gotten home. God she hoped Will put her to bed. And she prayed that Aurora would sleep for a few hours, enough to have Will calm Karen into a sated state.

"I like your ankles," Will said, placing a kiss to the small black mark on her left ankle. "They're delicate. They make you the dancer." Karen laughed. "I like you're legs. They're your frames." He said, placing a kiss inside her thighs, close to her center, but close enough to make her moan in anticipation. "I like your stomach. It carried our daughter." He kissed the scar. "I like your neck, it tells me you're alive." He kissed the vein, shooting a wave of need down her body. He propped himself up on one arm, his fingers tracing her face. "And I love you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down and kissing him as hard as she could. She could feel the guilt in his kiss. He never said anything like that. It was too cheesy; he would agree. There was no conversation, not anymore, when he slipped into her and began to rock his hips against hers'. They had gotten to the point where no words were necessary to tell each other how fast or how slow they needed to be going.

But Karen dug her fingernails into Will's back, scraping them, urging him on. She needed more, she had to have more, especially if he was cheating on her. She could feel the sensation starting to build in the pit of her stomach, and winced, causing Will to stop. She shook her head, kissed him, and silently begged for him to make it hurt. And he did. With every stroke he buried himself in her; something that had gotten her pregnant in the first place, something that made her sore for weeks, preventing her from walking. It was a constant reminder of why she couldn't have children with Stan.

She pushed him away. Pushed her husband away when they were both on the brink of their breaking point. Panting, she stared into his brown eyes and saw the desire, the need to take her right then and their, to finish her off. Rolling over, out from under him, she made her way into the bathroom and cursed herself. She knew he was right behind her, when she looked up in the mirror, she didn't see him. Sighing, she bent her head over the sink, a wave of nausea coming over her.

Sex. They had lots of sex. They could never keep their hands off of each other. They had these hot tumultuous affairs that would leave them in love with each other more so than before they started. But as she counted the beats of her heart inside her chest, reaching fifty, then a hundred in a matter of seconds, she couldn't figure out what was wrong. She was turning around to make her way back to the bedroom, to finish, to make him cry her name in pleasure, when she found her back against the white tiles of her bathroom wall.

Will was kissing her, the way he did when they had gone home after announcing their engagement. He was holding her the way he did the night of their wedding. He was rocking against her, inside of her, the way he did every chance they had the first weeks after they had been married. She pulled his hair, as she wrapped her legs around his waist, his hand slamming against the wall that shared Aurora's bathroom. She silently prayed that this didn't wake her up. They sensation, was there, ready to explode and it did when Will kissed her and touched her in a way that was feather light and almost non-existent. It was when he spilled into her that he yelled her name, in a whisper, into her ear; his breath hot and arousing.

He wiped away the tear that had formed on her cheek. It was from the sweat she was planning on saying if he asked. He didn't. He just drug her into the shower and made love to her again before pulling her into bed with him. She was able to catch the time; 3:45. They had been in the shower for nearly an hour, Aurora was still asleep, and her body was completely sated; for now.

"I was with a client today, in the café." Will said before placing a kiss to Karen's shoulder. He liked to kiss the water drops off her body, claiming they were sweet. "I saw Sam across the street. He no doubt called Mom. And she no doubt called you."

"She did." Karen said. "I thought nothing of it." She lied.

"His wife left him with no word, nothing. Just picked up and left." Will said, almost sadly. "If you left me, I'd come find you."

"Good. But I'm never leaving you." Her voice slipping into sleepy state.

"I love you, Karen." Will said. Karen let out a light snore; Will simply smiled and let his wife sleep. But Karen wasn't asleep. Instead she was listening to the faint vibration in her bedside drawer.

"Karen, it's Stan. You're husband is delightful. Too bad he doesn't know who you really are."


	8. Sneaking Strangers If Only

She always claimed Will watching her sleep was a bit creepy. She could feel his gaze on her, with his fingers dancing on her back. She could feel her back starting to warm in the chill air of the morning. And she would make a comment about how it was odd that he liked to stare at her. But he would remark he was studying her. Which is what Karen was doing with Aurora in her bed.

The four year old had ran into the bedroom, screaming and crying, announcing there was something in her room. Karen listened to the rain pouring outside and the wind howling; Karen quickly convinced herself it was the tree that knocked against the girl's window. Karen luckily was alone in bed; Will had a meeting that evening and she didn't know when he'd be home. In the middle of the night, the clock blinking 3:05, Will still was not home. It was becoming a habit; not that she minded. It just became a bit suspicious.

Karen was dragging her fingers through the toddler's hair, the brown curls that she once had as a child, when she heard the front door open and close. Moving the girls head off her chest and onto the pillow, Karen met her husband at the top of the stairs. Wrapped in a silk nightgown, she was expecting a kiss and some sort of comment about how Will was too tired to do anything tonight. But the man that was coming up the stairs made her stiffen, and made her wish that the man walking up the stairs was her husband. And she wished that her husband was home and not asleep in his office.

"How did you get in?" Karen asked, her arms across her chest.

"There's a key underneath the mat. It was the same at the mansion. You really should change your hiding place, Karen." Stanley Walker was walking up her grand staircase with a purpose. A smug smile on his face. A smile as if he just won the lottery.

"What are you doing here?" She watched Aurora's door out of the corner of her eye. The little girl was good at hearing voices. And though, like Karen, Aurora could sleep through anything, Aurora hadn't been sleeping well.

"I came to see you." He said lifting his hand, going to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She shifted her head away, ducking out of his grasp. "What's wrong, Karen? Too much attention from your husband?"

"You're not my husband." Karen sneered. "You were never my husband."

"Oh Karen." He said, dragging a finger along her cheek. "I was your husband in every single way. I made love to you. Paid for everything you touched. Made you one of the richest women in New York and you did what with that? Threw it away and became a nobody. What a sad sad life you must lead."

"I like my life the way it is now. I have a husband who loves me and a group of friends who actually care about my well being and not about theirs and theirs alone."

"What are you going to tell that sweet girl of yours that her daddy really isn't her daddy at all?"

"What are you talking about? Aurora is every bit of Will's daughter." She told him, ice around every word. "How dare you insinuate anything but."

"And what if she isn't? What if that little tryst we had a few months into your new marriage gets out and your husband hears about it?" Stan asked, his tone playful. "I don't think he will be too happy."

"Don't you dare say a word to him." Karen said, pleading almost. "And it wasn't like I had any say in what you did with me. You never could take no for an answer."

"And you never could say no. It was always, Yes. Give me more. Give me more." He said in a dark whisper, laughing.

"I want you to get out now. Will should be home any second." Karen said. "You need to leave Stan."

"Don't be surprised if Will comes home one night and clears everything out." He threatened. "A little birdy might let it slip in return for a worm."

He left Karen at the top of the stairs, and in the dark he heard him open and slam the door close, rattling the glass. She winced. She looked at her bedroom door, which was tightly closed. She couldn't sleep in the bed without Will. It was too big without someone to share it with. She normally slept in Aurora's room or stayed up and washed laundry or did the dishes that had been put into the dishwasher. It kept her busy. And during the day, if time allowed her, she would doze off on the patio for a few minutes at a time.

Slipping back into Aurora's room, Karen sat in the rocking chair that was put into the room the day she found out she was pregnant. She found it along some pier and fell in love with it. It was where she sat when she was pregnant with Aurora, rocking both of them to sleep. It was where she read to Aurora, where she held her the nights she couldn't sleep because of teething; it was their chair. No one would dare sit in it. It didn't seem right to do so.

Sighing, she leaned her head back against the pillows and watched the rain fall outside the window. She gasped when she felt a warm hand was on her face. Snapping her eyes open, not realizing she had dozed off, she sighed in relief when she saw the dark grey that only belonged to her husband. Aurora was being balanced on his hip and giggling and the goofy face that was on the girls face made Karen smile.

"What's so funny?"

"Mommy has a red line on her forehead." Aurora giggled. "It's funny."

"It's Mommy's," Will said kissing Aurora's head. "Did you sleep in here all night?"

Karen nodded and allowed Will to help him up onto her feet. "What time did you get in?"

"A few hours ago." He said. "Didn't want to wake you."

"If you went to bed, you'd have noticed I wasn't there."

Karen simply smiled at Aurora who was oblivious to what her parents were talking about. Karen took the toddler out of Will's arms and passed the chance to get kissed. She knew she was going to tell him today before dinner. She knew he wouldn't enjoy finding out that she had been married to his newest, biggest, client. Will was constantly doing paperwork with the Walker Inc logo attached to it. It made her cringe every time she saw his briefcase.

It made her worry about what Stan could say about him and her any moment of their day. He could let it slip that while Will was out of the country, Stan came over and they had sex; Stan had sex and Karen just laid there like one of Aurora's dolls. She drank herself to sleep that night, missed Will's calls, and isolated herself in the house, not wanting to talk to anyone.

Will found her later that day sitting on the back porch with a glass of lemonade and a pair of her sunglasses perched on her nose, watching Aurora swing on the swing set. He sat down next to her and draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. She smiled as he placed a kiss to her temple. He drug his fingers against her arm, sending shivers down her spine, only forcing her into his side.

"I have to tell you something," Karen said breaking the silence. It was now or never. "It's about one of your new clients."

"You didn't sleep with one of them did you?" Will laughed.

"I did actually." She said, straightening up, getting out of Will's grasp. "Stanley Walker. I was married to him, once upon a time."

"When?"

"I left him a year before I met you. I had just moved to New York got Grace's invitation to your lunch thing and then we went out to lunch, slept together, got engaged, got married, had Aurora and now we're here." Karen said. "And when you went to Europe for work, about three months after we got married; he came over and had sex with me."

"You two had sex? When we got married?" It was a harsh whisper. One that made Karen wince.

"It wasn't like I had a choice," Karen whispered. Will stood up and stormed into the house. Karen smoothed out her skirt and sighed leaning back into the bench, curling her feet underneath her. She felt a warm shoulder on her shoulder, the thin material of her blouse acting as a poor excuse for a shield.

His voice was deep and down right sexy as he told her to follow him into the house. She expected him to start yelling at her, demeaning her for having slept with Stan. She expected him to tell her to pack her things and to get out. To leave Aurora here until she got all her priorities straight. It's something Stan would have done and he had multiple times in their marriage.

But the second her back made contact with their bedroom door and the warmth of his hands on her bare shoulders, it wasn't going to be like Stan. She heard material ripping, most likely her skirt, because the air that chilled her and the way he kissed her made her gasp. Her hands were pinned up against the wall, over her head and as he wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her, her legs wrapped around his waist as best as they could.

This was their way of fighting, falling into some sexual roll, and neither one of them minded. It broke nerves, shattered them, made them calm; and when they did talk the fear the one or the other would leave them was out of the picture. They wouldn't leave each other, it was impossible to do so. Not when having sex with each other was so damn addicting.

He all but tossed her down onto the bed and climbed over her. He pulled down the lace underwear she had worn with her skirt and ripped that off her as well. He needed her. He hadn't had her yet and to find out his client, one that he was starting to have a lot of respect for slept with his wife; he had to take her. The thought of leaving her, to take a drive, to drive to his parents or to Brooklyn to see Grace crossed his mind, but he would only dwell on it longer.

"Will you just do it already," Karen gasped as she felt his hand brush over the sensitive parts. His nail trailed down her inner thigh before he kissed her, hard, rough, demanding entrance and slipped into her.

"Jesus," He moaned as he felt the copper tasting liquid, also known as blood fill his mouth as Karen bit down on his lip.

As he moved inside her and as she gripped his hair at the back of his neck, trying to have some composure while her body was shattered to pieces, all thoughts of Stan was washed away. All Karen could think about was what body part she needed to use in order to breathe. Will, who was moving as slow as he possibly could, groaning and moaning in her ear as she dug her nails into his back, was making it impossible to do so.

It was the rough kiss he placed to her lips, his tonguing slipping into her mouth and his hands that was digging into her ribs that broke her. Gasping she bucked her hips into his, the burn that had built up, had nearly killed her. She threw her head back into the pillows, and buried her fingers in Will's hair as he sped up his pace and kissed the open skin of her neck, nipping at it with his teeth and kissing it to soothe it.

He collapsed beside her and rolled out of her grasp, not wanting to make this their usual fight. He watched her get up and pad across their room to slip into something comfortable; one of his shirts that no longer fit him and a pair of pants. She took on look at the mirror, tried to calm her hair but just sighed as she walked out of their bedroom no doubt back outside to watch Aurora. They hadn't been in their long, and if the girl was occupied enough she wouldn't have noticed her parents gone.

It wasn't long before Will had joined her on the bench again. She buried herself in his side, reveling in his post-sex smell. He kissed the top of her head as he normally did afterwards.

"I'm going to tell him he needs to find a new lawyer." Will said. Karen nodded. "He won't like it. But I don't like what he did to you."

She smiled and watched their daughter run around after a bubble she produced, giggling. If only he knew what she had done.


	9. Deal With It

There was not enough air in order for her to breath. Her skin was hot under her own finger tips, drenched with sweat, drenched in a type of aroma that she wished she could bottle up so she could keep it forever. Her hands, trembling so bad nothing in her grasp could be held. It would end up broken or shattered. She needed air, she had to have air, but it wasn't going to come to her any time soon.

She could feel her body starting to shake, chilled by the sudden air blowing near her, and chilled by the lack of warmth near by. She was glad there was a pillow nearby, allowing her to scream into it, a moan would be too juvenile. She curled her fingers into dark hair, hair she brushed, hair she kissed, hair she sighed into. She tossed her head back, wincing in pain as she hit the headboard of her bed. She gasped at the sudden pain in her head and then the warmth the erupted.

Will kissed Karen's stomach as he climbed up over her, kissing parts of her as he went, finally settling on her side, kissing her lips. Her buried his hand in her hair, bringing her face closer to his, kissing her harder, and slipping his tongue into her mouth. He rolled over onto his back, forcing her to straddle him. Their hands entwined above their heads. He bit back a groan as she lifted her hips to his, skin against skin; he drove her crazy.

She could feel when her body defied her and let all her inhibitions go. Her fingers buried themselves in Will's hair, tugging it, making him groan. And then she buried them into the pillows above her head, not being able to twist and turn. Screaming was out of the picture, given that it was early in the morning, and their very perceptive child was on the other side of the wall. The last time she screamed Aurora came running in to make sure they were okay. Will was quick enough to cover them to hide everything from her.

Will collapsed next to her, drinking in the scent of her hair, strawberries and at the moment, sex. Her skin tasted like salt and the sweetness that made her her. It drove him crazy, to put it simply. His fingers danced across her stomach and stayed there, knowing anywhere else he put his hands they would get shoved away. Placing a deep kiss to her lips, he dragged a finger down her cheek, framing her face with his hand.

"That was amazing." He said. Karen smiled and buried her face in his neck. It was odd, she never really liked to cuddle post sex and yet here she was barely an inch apart from him, reveling in the warmth.

"What time is it?" She questioned, hoping to get a few moments of shuteye before Aurora came running in declaring everyone had to wake up. Particularly if it was at six or seven in the morning on a Saturday.

"Five." Will said, rolling onto his back, pulling Karen with him; her head used his shoulder as a pillow.

" She'll be in here soon." Karen moaned.

"Sleep."Will demanded. "I'll be awake."

It was their trick from getting Aurora to wake them up. Will or Karen would be sitting up in bed, working, doing something when Aurora came in, disappointing the five year old when she came in. Today was a special day for Aurora, since it was her birthday, but a sad day because Mommy had to go in front of a bunch of people and talk about a man that both of her parents wanted nothing to do with.

Will heard the rustling of the sheets in the room next to his, and braced himself for the door banging open. But it didn't. Instead Aurora opened the door quietly and stuck her head in. Will smiled at the sight of the brown haired girl raising her eyebrows the way her mother did when she wanted to know if her being there was okay. Will nodded and Aurora, like a bullet, made her way into the room, leaping on to the bed on Karen's side.

Aurora gasped at Karen's groan and quickly crawled into Will's lap, looking at him with wide eyes, surprised and apologetic. Will placed a finger over his mouth indicating she had to be quiet and the little girl nodded.

"Happy Birthday," He whispered. Aurora smiled and clapped her hands, gasping again when Karen shifted. "Go get your doll and I'll meet you downstairs."

Aurora nodded and leapt off the bed, running to the open door. Will leaned over and pulled on a pair of pants, before rolling over to Karen, kissing her head.

"What?" She moaned. "What time is it?"

"7:30" Will told her. "She decided to wait this year."

"She's already been here?" She asked, her eyes snapping open at the realization she hadn't seen Aurora. Will nodded. Cursing Karen slipped on her nightgown from off the floor, and slipped a robe over it when she saw the tear in the fabric. "You need to be more delicate with these things,"

"I didn't see you protesting at the time," Karen rolled her eyes and kissed him quickly before leaving their bedroom and entered her daughters.

Aurora was sitting on the floor of her bedroom wearing a pair of jeans, a top that was buttoned up wrong and her wavy hair was askew. Karen couldn't help but laugh at the picture. Aurora looked bored playing with her doll, one she had gotten as an early birthday present. Karen shook her head and quietly made her way into the room, crouching down behind the girl.

"We can get you a new doll," Karen stated. Aurora spun around, her eyes wide, surprised and the look melted when a smile spread across her face. Aurora threw her arms around Karen's neck.

"I didn't mean to wake you up," Aurora said quickly, making it all into one word. Karen laughed and smoothed out her hair, attempting to tame the wildness.

"It's okay honey. Mommy was awake anyway." She smiled. "What happened with these buttons?"

"I did them all by myself," Aurora said proudly. "I did them wrong, didn't I?"

Karen nodded. "But don't worry. Practice makes perfect." Karen quickly and efficiently re-did the buttons on the girls blouse. "Now what should we do with your hair? A ponytail?"

"Braids?"

"French?" Aurora nodded her head with a smile attached to her face. "Alright then. French braids it is."

Karen paced in the hallway outside the courtroom. Her heels hit the marble floor in a steady pace. She had just given her testimony about Stanley Walker. About the embezzlement charges, about her relation with him, why she left and said nothing; she thought of her daughter as she spoke, remembering the morning and how cute Aurora looked with her French braided hair and her outfit. Marilyn took her out to lunch for her birthday while Karen and Will went to the courthouse. Now Karen waited for Will to come out and tell her what happened. Either Stan was going to walk away a free man or stay in prison.

People started to leave the room, not matching Karen's eyes as they passed her. After what she said in the courtroom, Karen wouldn't want to look at herself either. She set herself up, with the questions Stan's lawyer asked, to look like a whore, some money-digging woman who did nothing unless it involved money. Bu that wasn't who she was, at least not anymore. Not when she got screwed into a marriage that meant nothing.

"Kare-" She stopped and turned at the sound of her name to see Will walking towards her. His hands were shoved in his pocket, his face straight, she couldn't tell what was going through his mind.

"What happened?"

"Found not guilty on all but one." She shook her head, sighing and running a hand through her hair. "He's getting three years, probably out in about two, two and a half."

"Damn."

"I know." He said, taking her hand in his, kissing the side of her head. "Let's go celebrate your birthday."

"My birthday stopped being celebrated when Aurora was born."

"I guess there won't be any more morning birthday sex."

She faked a wounded gasp and placed a hand over her heart. She dropped it and looked at him with a sly look. "Maybe for you."

He nudged her and she laughed, allowing him to lead her out of the building and down the stone steps. Being January, and the chill caused her to lean into Will, reveling in his warmth. He led her to the town car that was parked around the corner. She climbed in followed by Will and immediately kicked off her shoes. Two years was two years Stanley Walker was going to be out of their life. She could deal with that. But what was to come afterwards, was something she couldn't deal with.


	10. Trust Me On This

There was no way Karen could possibly take her eyes off of Aurora, who had been brought home from the hospital only a few hours ago. The little girl, who wasn't really all that little anymore, was staring out at the window, watching the snowfall against the window, building up on the ledge. The crackle and flicker of the fireplace reflected in the window; in the girl's eyes.

Karen could watch her daughter, on one condition. A condition made by Aurora herself. There could be no talking of what transpired over night. Not until she was ready to talk about it. There was too many questions, all answered the same; being asked the questions by a parent would cause her to break down, something she hadn't done yet. Something she wasn't ready for. And so, because there was nothing else Karen wanted to talk about, Karen stayed in her chair, with a cup of hot cocoa for Aurora, watching her.

It was Aurora's birthday. Karen's birthday as well. The girl was turning seven. And for the beginning of her seventh birthday she was in a interrogation room in a police station down town. It was the one proud parenting moment Karen had when she made Aurora memorize the home phone number. She didn't care what else Aurora knew, as long as she knew that ten digit phone number. And she knew one day, not as soon, that it would come in handy.

"I'm cold," Aurora said from her spot on the window. She turned her face a fraction, looking at her mother out of the corner of her eye. Karen shifted, placed the cup of hot chocolate, which was now most likely cold, on the table beside her and moved towards the window, grabbing a throw blanket from the couch.

"Do you want something to eat?" Karen asked. There was no way Aurora could be cold in her spot from the window. The fireplace made the little corner a sauna. Karen drug her fingers through her daughter's mess of curls.

"No, thank you." She said in almost a whisper. Karen draped the blanket over her shoulders. "Thank you." Karen kissed the top of her head, smoothed it down, and moved away from her.

"If you need anything-" Karen offered. Aurora nodded and went to look back outside.

Karen smiled as she sat back down in her chair and waited. Cradled the cold cup of hot chocolate and watched as her daughter started to cry. Again. How the girl had any more tears to cry was beyond her, but there they were, escaping her pretty hazel eyes. Will, who was futzing around in the kitchen, probably trying to occupy himself from breaking anything was doing everything he could not to come out and interrogate Aurora. He already had tried, not getting very far with Karen's glare.

Karen was tired. Aurora was tired. Will was tired. All three emotionally drained from the night's activities. Aurora wasn't allowed to sleep. A concussion she attained from knocking her head against a concrete wall. Karen would not sleep, not wanting Aurora to drift off and become unconscious, or wake up screaming and crying. And Will. Will couldn't sleep due to the mere fact that he just couldn't clear his mind, something he liked to do before he went to bed.

"Mommy," Karen almost missed the whimper. Her eyes snapped up to see Aurora's chin tucked into her chest. Her shoulders shaking. In one swift move, reminding Karen of the time Aurora found it necessary to walk the length of the counter when she was three, she was at her side. Aurora buried her face into Karen's chest, wrapping her arms around the woman's waist, begging to be held.

"Shhhh." Karen soothed. Aurora shook her head, maybe trying to wipe her tears, or not give into the thought that popped into her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will hovering in the doorway. Most likely sensing something was wrong.

He gave it to Karen, the task of dealing with Aurora. She needed her mother, and Karen needed to be a mother. She had to be the one to wait, to listen for anything that Aurora might supply; while Will stewed in the kitchen. He wanted to kill Stanley Walker. Not really, but the threat was there. He just wanted the man out of his life. His and his family's life. It wasn't fair to what he did to Karen or to Aurora for that matter.

It was just like in the movie. When a damsel in distress is rescued by her knight in shining armor and falls limp in the arms of her capturer. Aurora became pure body weight, causing Karen to stumble backwards, and shoot a glance at Will, screaming help. He moved to Karen's side and swept Aurora up, bridal style, and cradled her to him. The girl wove her arms around his neck and buried her face. She continued to cry. Whimpering. Mumbling apologies.

Will took her up the stairs and down the hallway to her bedroom. The girl sensing her whereabouts began to kick. She shook her head, trying to climb up her father when he moved to put her down. It was then that Karen climbed into Aurora's tiny big girl bed and pulled Aurora to her. The girl began to sob. Karen shook her head and tilted her head back and just rubbed the girls back.

"He came here." Aurora began. Her voice completely broken."He came here told me you were hurt." Will raised an eyebrow at Karen. "He told me your mommy is hurt and told me to come get you. I didn't know what to do. I don't like thinking you're hurt momma." Karen sighed, continuously rubbing her back. "And when I said okay, he took me to that big place and you weren't there. I couldn't do nothing. He wouldn't let me see you."

"It's okay, Aurora. You're safe now." Karen said, quietly. "You're safe now. He's not here. He's not going to be here for some time okay?"

"I don't want to see him again." Aurora quietly said. "Ever."

"Neither do I, baby doll. Neither does daddy." Karen said as Will watched in awe. It sounded like she was singing some kind of lullaby. The girl was instantly calming down. He could never do that. It wasn't something he could do after a man kidnapped his daughter. Even if Aurora was a boy, he'd leave the condolences to Karen. He'd be pummeling Stan's face in.

"Daddy?" The girl lifted her head to look at the man standing in the doorway. He smiled and nodded his head. "No see."

"No baby girl. I don't want to see him either." Will smiled. He itched his way back into the room and took a seat at the edge of the bed. "Like mom said, we don't want to see him and we won't okay? I won't let it happen."

Aurora nodded her head and leaned her head against Karen's shoulder. "I'll be right there," she whispered. Will kissed Karen's temple before he kissed Aurora's forehead. He didn't miss her stiffen under his touch. Acceptable since she was probably touched.

Will went into the living room, emptied out the glass into the sink and leaned against the counter. He drug a hand through his hair. It was three in the morning and there was no way he or Karen was going to be asleep anytime soon. Aurora would be asleep in minutes, probably sooner with Karen mumbling things to her. Humming. Singing. She could put him to sleep in seconds with a few strokes to the back of the head, her fingers running through his hair at the base of his neck, and telling him the event's of her day. He was out quick.

And with the lack of sleep Aurora had, he was sure she was out cold in a matter of seconds. And with the footsteps walking above him, belonging to Karen, he smiled, knowing he was right. She appeared moments later in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning against it, sighing as if she was defeated.

"She's asleep." Karen announced. Will smiled and nodded, pushing himself off the counter, walking in her direction. He took her in her arms. He could feel the tense muscles in her back starting to ease.

"What are we going to do about her?" Will asked. "I mean what else can we do? She won't talk about it."

"We let it ease out of her, Will." Karen said carefully. "One day, it'll be in the middle of breakfast or in the middle of her shower and then she'll come to us and spill everything. That bit about telling her I was hurt? That didn't happen. It's not like Stan. Stan doesn't care about my wellbeing."

"I just want to know what happened so that way he could go back to jail and stay there." Will said. It was what they both were thinking.

"You have to wait until she opens up to you." Karen said, placing a palm against his cheek. "Trust me on this."

He nodded and she kissed him, slowly, and fell into his arms, before walking away. Up to their bedroom. He wouldn't trust her. At least she didn't think so.


	11. Metaphoric Glass

Will couldn't help but stare at Karen from his spot in the doorway of the kitchen. Her hip was propped against the counter, her eyes focused on the magazine in front of her. Her head tilted so she could see who was coming and still looking at the magazine. Her posture, the easy way she shifted from one foot to the other made her look like the dancer she was, yet denied. And to top off the amazement of everything, she was dressed in one of his shirts.

Since Aurora was born, really since she turned three, Karen would be caught dead in anything of his. When they had first got together and they went away she packed the bare minimum of what her closet offered. She enjoyed walking around wherever they stayed in his shirt and boxers; it made her feel closer to him she had said at one point. But there she was, standing in their kitchen, wearing his shirt on her birthday. Wearing the bracelet that he had presented her earlier in the morning.

Ever since Aurora was born she had made it clear she didn't want to take away the girl's spotlight. It was Aurora's day and as long as she was still presented with disgusting take-out Chinese and a present or two she would be fine. But the big to-do when it came to parties was reserved for Aurora. And now that she was transitioning out of being a child and out of the preteen years and into the last few years as a teenager, the parties were to be more extravagant and hopefully more important to her.

"If you stare any longer, you're going to have to order another counter-top." Karen stated, her eyes not looking up from her magazine, drawing Will out of his thoughts. He noticed the small smile that was playing at her lips and went further into the kitchen, stepping around the counter, positioning himself behind her.

She smiled wider as he wrapped his arms around her waist, his fingers playing with the white cotton of his shirt tugging her closer to him. She laughed as he kissed her behind the ear, the spot that made her knees buckle. She thrust her arms around in front of her, her hands slapping the granite counter top. His laugh sounded loudly in her ear, the vibrations rumbling against her back.

Karen shoved him backwards slightly and turned around, placing a hand to his chest, stopping him from stepping closer. "Your daughter is going to be awake soon and I don't want her coming in and being scared for life."

Will shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn't care. "Aurora isn't going to be awake for some time. She didn't go to bed until some time after one."

"How do you know?"

"I heard her pacing the hallway." Karen raised her eyebrow, knowing there was more of a story behind it. "You were in the bathroom and I heard her door open. You're not the only one with bat hearing."

Karen laughed and sighed, giving into his weight, when she felt the counter dig into her back. Moaning in appreciation and pain, Karen braced her hands behind her and jumped up onto the counter, pulling Will to her. His lips landed on hers and there was no asking permission when his tongue jetted out and demanded entrance. She moaned, low and her fingers grasping his hair, pulling and tugging.

"As much as I like this attention on my birthday-" She began but was quickly silenced, her head dropping to his shoulder trying to not vocalize her thoughts as his hands buried itself between her legs.

He kissed her jaw. Her neck. Her ear. Her cheek and finally settled on her lips, his tongue mimicking the movements of his fingers. He winced at the way she pulled his hair, the one thing she did to urge him on, to make him continue. She moved her leg to have her foot resting on one of the drawer handles, attempting to not dig it into his side. One hand reached for his pants button, her fingers playing with the zipper.

"I'm already going to therapy for one thing. I don't need to tell Marissa I caught my parents having sex in my kitchen." Karen gasped and dropped her head to Will's shoulder, pushing his hand away and dropping her knee.

Over Karen's shoulder Will saw Aurora standing in the doorway where he stood before he found himself in this-predicament if that what it was. "Happy Birthday, Aurora." Will said, pulling himself away from Karen, wiping his hand on the towel that was hanging from the drawer; it normally was there for the dishes.

"Hi Daddy," She said with a smile. He went to pull her in for a hug and she place a hand on his chest, much like Karen did earlier. "No hands." Will rolled his eyes and put his hands up in the air and laughed when Aurora threw her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

Karen was standing at the sink, washing her hands, and smiled as Aurora slowly came up behind her propping her hip against the counter. "Happy Birthday, Mom," Aurora said pulling out a small blue box and setting it down next to her. Karen opened up the box and smiled at the silver locket that was nestled in the navy blue felt. "Flip it over." Aurora demanded. Karen looked over at her daughter who just shrugged and slowly flipped it over.

Inscribed in pretty italic, _For you and I have a guardian angel  
>On high, with nothing to do. <em> With their birthday and initials. "Now you need to open it."

"Is it going to blow up? Start playing really annoying music that they have in cards?" Karen teased. Aurora shook her head and smiled.

"It might make you cry." Aurora admitted.

Karen dug her nail into the crease of the locket and popped it open, gasping at the pictures in the outline of the hear shaped locket. "How did you get this?"

It was a baby picture of her, when she was no younger than five, no older than seven. Her dark hair had a bow in it, pink no doubt and a white dress. She was smiling, no doubt at something that her father was doing of to the side. It wasn't her mother who took it, that much she knew. She didn't care if she had pictures of her girls or anything that related to them. It was her father who had the pictures of them in his wallet and bragged about how beautiful his girls were.

"I found the picture in your black box under your bed." Aurora admitted. When Karen looked up at her with wide eyes. "I know you told me not to go into there but I was looking for your bracelet, the one Daddy gave you after the kid- after I went missing and I thought it might be in your black box. But Mom I-"

"I thought I lost this picture." Karen admitted. "I'm not mad that you went through my personal things. But it's okay. And what did you want with my bracelet?"

"It's a secret." Karen laughed and shook her head.

"Is everything ready for today? The buckets are set up and the table is set?" Karen asked. Aurora nodded. "And your dress-"

"Is hanging up on a hanger in the bathroom. I did it before I came here." She smiled. "Everything is set up."

"Good." Karen smiled, kissing her daughter's cheek.

The Truman home was filled with people in the matter of seconds it seemed. Jack, Grace, Leo and baby Laila were the first to arrive. Then after quietly celebrating Karen's birthday, the only celebration she was going to have until later when they were going out to dinner. Hopefully if the room full of teenagers left at a reasonable hour. From Grace and Leo Karen got a beautiful necklace that matched a pair of earrings. And Jack got her a coat, a red coat with black buttons.

Leo and Will were in the corner of the yard drinking beers and taking shots of something that was stronger than beer. How it got there, god only knows. Aurora was laughing, giggling with her friends, dancing, getting spun on the dance floor by a boy who made her red. It made Karen smile as she stood at the door to the backyard. She fingered the locket that Aurora had got her.

It amazed her that the girl had got hold of the picture, copied it and made this little necklace mean so much. Karen shook her head and wiped a tear from her eyes.

"I don't even want to know what's going to happen when Laila turns 16. I don't think I'm going to handle it."

"It get's easier with every year." Karen admitted. "Given I remember the day she was born and every birthday, but it does get easier."

Will and Leo came up to them. Will pressing a kiss to Karen's cheek. "We're going to get more beers and possible more 'adult' alcohol," he said adding the air quotes. "Don't miss me too much."

"I'll try. Plus I have to make sure that the teenagers won't burn my hours down." Karen said, patting his cheek. "You sure you don't want to take Jack with you?"

"Oh hell why not," Leo said. He left their side and returned moments later with Jack who was smiling at them. He started rambling about his latest role and how this party would help a lot with the research of the role.

Karen laughed at his rambling. He had one too many drinks. Or coffee. She watched as her husband pulled him out of the apartment and shook her head. Settling down in a chair watching Aurora and her friends interact with each other, it was as if she wasn't there. And that's how she wanted it. It was the deal she made with Aurora a long time ago. There was to be no interfering with her friends unless it was absolutely necessary.

She did whatever Aurora wanted. It was the least she could do after the mess they had with Stan. After throwing temper tantrums, demanding her parents do whatever she asked because she was entitled to it, and staying up half the night because she couldn't sleep; Karen found the best therapist New York had to offer. After calling Will, letting him know what she wanted to do, there were a slew of people calling. He no doubt dropped their last name and every and any therapist whether they had a valid degree or not were eating out of their hands.

It was going to be four years in a few days and Aurora went willingly. Went gladly. Her therapist, Marissa whose daughter Elizabeth went to school with Aurora, had heard about what happened and offered to help. Offered, willingly, and saw Aurora every few days, or whenever Aurora needed to vent to someone who wasn't Karen, Will, Grace, or Jack. At first it bothered her, because as Aurora grew up, she didn't want to have things hidden from her. But knowing what it was like to have something traumatic happen, the last person to talk to is mom.

Aurora smiled up at Karen as she was handed a piece of cake. The boys still hadn't come back yet and it sort of bothered Karen. But knowing that one of them wasn't stupid enough to drink and drive, Karen shook of the idea that something bad had happened to them. That was until the front door was heard slamming and Will throwing open doors, with Leo in his tracks.

"Karen-" He started.

"You're a whore" Will yelled, pointing a finger at her. "You slept with your ex-husband while married to me AND you had an affair with your step-father?"

Karen's eyes snapped over to Aurora who was stunned into silence. The light whispers of Aurora's friends sounded loud in her ears. And that's when she heard the metaphorical glass break.


	12. Read, Listen, Miss Me

There wasn't much Karen could do but sit and stare at the cooling liquid in her coffee cup resting on her lap. She listened to the rain hit the roof, a soothing sound. Karen packed a suitcase, made Aurora pack a bag and together they got in the car and drove. Karen for a good amount of time didn't know where she was going to go, until they pulled into the driveway belonging to George and Marilyn.

It wasn't until Karen pulled in and sat in the driveway for a good five minutes that she knew it was the right thing to do. Aurora was the one to knock and to explain why they were there. On her birthday no less. Aurora had excused herself to the one guest room that she'd assume she would share with her mother. And now her mother was talking with her grandmother about her father. It was worth eavesdropping on them, but with all the tears she had shed in the car, and the headache that was coming on, bed sounded more appealing than eavesdropping.

"He slept with Elizabeth's mother. My daughter's best friend's mother was in bed with my husband." Karen told Marilyn. "And he comes in and tells me I'm a whore?"

"He slept with her in your home?"

"No. This was years ago. He doesn't think I know. But he was drunk. That's what his excuse will be only it won't be an excuse. It's the truth. He's always drunk it seems."

"He drinks that much?" Marilyn asked. "When does he have time?"

"He drinks at work. He'd never do it at home. Not when Aurora is near by."

Karen shrugged her shoulders as if she were okay with it. But she wasn't. She would never be. It was what Stan did when he had a rough day at work. He would come home look himself into a room and drink whatever made him feel bad away. It was pointless, but she didn't say a word. She couldn't. There wasn't a thing she could say that wouldn't make her seem like an overpowering-control freak of a wife. His words.

"You're going to stay the night. You can sleep here or in the room with Aurora. It doesn't matter. But you're going to have to go home and put William in his place." Marilyn informed her. It was a rare occasion that she heard her mother in law call Will, William. It was when she was mad and frustrated with the boys that she ever used their first names. Or to make a point. "You're going to have to make him choose Karen. You or the alcohol, because if you don't, one day you're going to have to explain to that precious girl upstairs why her father is dead."

Karen nodded and watched as the older woman left the room, leaving her to her thoughts. And all Karen could think about was what would she say if she had gotten a call saying that Will was gone. What would she tell Aurora? How would Aurora react? How would she react? Everything would be on her shoulders because she's the wife, she's the one who had to do everything, tell everyone what happened.

She was going to sleep on the couch, or just lay there as the night passed. But before she set the blanket down, she went to check on Aurora. The girl was passed out, sleeping on top of her covers, her shoes still on her feet. Shaking her head and smiling, Karen pushed the door open with her hip and silently moved into the room and sat at the edge of the bed. Easily, from nights of practice, Karen slipped Aurora's shoes off her feet, sat them down at the foot of the bed and moved to draw back the covers. Hopefully not waking Aurora in the process.

"Mom?" Aurora mumbled, shielding her face, as if she were expecting the sun to come pouring in through the blinds. "What are you doing?"

"Tucking you in." Karen said. A urora moaned and sat herself up, bringing her knees to her chest. It was the first time Karen noticed Aurora's tear tracks. "What with the tears?"

"You mean besides the fact that you got called a whore in front of all my friends? Besides the facts that my father came home blubbering like an idiot because he was drunk again? Nothing. Nothing's wrong. And nothing ever is." Aurora said, shoving her feet under the covers, and pulling them over her shoulder.

Karen pulled the blanket down, watching Aurora shrink at the sudden lack of heat. "We're going to talk about it. And we're gonna talk now."

"Daddy is a drunk mom. Always has been. Please do you think I don't know what the smell of alcohol is? I mean really. Every night and I mean _every_ night the laundry room is locked. Why? Because all of Daddy's clothes either smell like puke, alcohol, or both. Mom I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm going through High School for crying out loud. Do you really think everybody at my school are perfect?" Aurora asked. She sat up and turned to Karen. "Please. At least half of the girls in my class are on birth control. The other half is on some sort of drug or anti depressant and I'm straight and narrow as a pencil. I don't do drugs. I don't drink at parties. I can't bring myself to come home everyday knowing that I did something against how my parents raised me. I go to school everyday listening to how everyone love's their Dad and how wonderful he is and how great his job his. What can I say about mine? He's a lawyer. He's a lawyer who is a drunk."

Karen stood up from the spot on Aurora's bed, and kissed her forehead. "I'll be here in the morning."

"Where are you going?"

"To give your father a sobering proposition."

She didn't know how she made it home in one piece. She didn't even remember putting the keys in the ignition much less setting the car in drive and pushing the gas pedal. But there she was, with her house key in the door, throwing it open, slamming it for good measure.

The place was the same as she had left it, hours ago. The wrapped presents were still on the dining room present, the cake was sitting on the kitchen table, the decorations were still up; Will either wasn't there or hadn't touched a thing. She was ready to call his name when he came stumbling into the living room with a bottle of wine in his hand.

"Hey Kare-" He said, stumbling into the couch. She drops her purse onto the table and slowly walks over to him, taking the bottle of wine out of his hand and tossing it over her head. The sound of glass breaking echoed behind them, his eyes wide. "I was drinking that!"

"You're done drinking Will." She said, stepping toe to toe with him, her voice dropping an octave. "You're done. You're gonna to listen to me. You're going to listen to every word I say. " He nodded, a small smile playing on his lips as if it were a rouse. "You're going to go through this house and throw away every bottle and can that contains alcohol. Then you're going to call this number," She said producing a white card with black blocked letters. "You're going to call them and arrange a meeting with an AA counselor. After you do that, you're going to wash every piece of clothing you own and make sure it doesn't reek like alcohol."

"Where is all this coming from? Does my drinking bother you?"

"It doesn't bother me. But it does bother Aurora." Karen pointed out. "She's laying in a bed at your mother's house crying because she can't gloat how great her father is because he's drunk every night. She can't have a single conversation with you about something she needs her father for, because he can't comprehend two words."

"Aurora knows?"

"Who doesn't? Hell Will I knew before you walked in the door what type of night it was going to be." Karen placed a hand to his cheek, smiling as he kissed it. "You're going to do every I asked you to or I will leave you. I will divorce you and take Aurora away from you."

"Karen-"

"Make your decision Will." Karen said backing away towards the door, her purse in her hand. "It's me and the baby or you and you're alcohol."

A very tired Karen and a very wide awake Aurora made it through the front door of the house close to nine in the morning the next day. The aftermath of the party had been cleared. The apartment was cleaned, the carpet vacuumed, the tables wiped down; everything was clean. There was a note on the living room table, labeled 'Read Me.' The note had been short, having her go to the phone machine., where it was labeled 'Listen To Me.'

"Hi Will. This is Margaret from AlchoAid. I just wanted to let you know that I got your message and I'll be seeing you on Friday at eleven a.m. "

Karen couldn't help but smile. She looked around and assumed that Will had put Aurora's presents in her room, which she probably escaped to. Karen flipped open the pantry, where they kept their alcohol and it was empty, with the exception of a single bottle that's empty, with yet another note attached to it.

Karen flipped it open and saw his writing.

_Everything is out. All of it. The wine, the beer, the Tequila. Hell even the mouthwash in the bathroom. Now go to our room and smell my laundry. _

Karen did exactly that. It smelled like baby powder. It smelled like laundry soap. It all did. And Karen couldn't help but smile. Things were changing for him. She wanted to call him and tell him he was done for the day and she was going to ravish him, because eighteen hours of not being able to really touch him was driving her wild. She was ready to knock on Aurora's door, when she heard the phone ring and the machine pick up.

"Mrs. Truman, this is Dr. Samson over to New York University Medical Center. You're husband was brought in a few minutes ago with a severe head injury-" It was all Karen heard before she pulled Aurora out of her room and shoved her into the car.


End file.
